The Gambler's Son
by VictorOfDuels97
Summary: The Child of Duke Devlin (whose father rather cornily decided to name Joey) is going to Duel Academy! He's gonna tear it up (possibly literally). He's not a rule-follower, but he's not a bad kid, popular because he doesn't hide, even when he's in the wrong. He also uses a Chance Deck. It's T because of infrequent swearing, and I think I might make Crowler take up smoking, .
1. Chapter 1

Hi all! For anyone who cares, I'm NOT stopping Project Monster Reborn, or even postponing; I'll keep working on both at the same time (I really don't think I couldn't, setting aside all questions of my ability to multitask!)

I'm writing this because I've notice most if not all of the Duel Academy Stories follow the story of the actual show almost exactly, just changing names and decks, etc (sometimes not even that). I also wanted to do it as a joke of my interactions in the Game, because by the time I reach King, Crowler's body would definitely have ended up belly-up in the lake, if ya know what I mean? (I'd have killed him }:D )

Chapter One: Joey Devlin

"Son, I need you to tell me straight; what in the name of all that is holy makes you think you could get into any school, let alone duel academy, with your track record?"

Joey grinned, the principal was a condescending sunnuvabitch, but Joey needed him as an ally.

"Well, sir, I'm not sure what you mean; my grades are fine!"

Inwardly he winced; that was gonna sound snide.

"You know very well what I mean!"-cue the angry double-chin quiver of doom-"Five fights in the last week, two resulting in minor injuries, one resulting in hospitalization! Seventeen counts of using Duel-Disks on campus during school hours! Destruction of school property, resulting in a total fine of six-hundred dollars, still unpaid! AND THAT. IS JUST. THIS YEAR!" the principal was all-out screaming at the end, his voice surprisingly high-pitched for such a burly man.

"And? With my dueling skills, grades, and general likability amongst student body and staff alike, I don't really see how divulging my private record to another school (isn't there a privacy law, there?) is going to be too much of push against me."

His apt (or at least he thought so) remark landed him a special appearance of the 'someone is going to be expelled, fired, or killed' vein.

However, the Principal's voice was surprisingly calm, "We'll see."

-LineBreak-

Joey Devlin smiled, his bright green eyes and wild red hair reminding them all of his mother's pure celtic warrior heritage as he stared down Mr. Ushio, the school security guard and former mental patient, who normally terrorized the students of the school.

Normally Joey tried not to lock heads with the guy, but he was being way out of line with one of the younger students (extortion as usual, but with way too much money this time), and it was only a week till the Duel Academy Written Exam, so he wasn't too worried about repercussions.

Ushio hadn't gotten any smaller since his pre-breakdown days of terrorizing the student body (the work-out room in the nuthouse had done quite a bit for him, in fact), but Joey was no slouch either; he possessed a wiry kind of muscle, much like his name-sake, and his martial arts abilities weren't bad at all.

From behind him, best friend and fellow DA applicant Atemu Kaiba was standing, stone-faced as always, but somehow more ominous than usual, adding very much to the intense atmosphere of the room.

Ushio gave a growl he apparently thought either manly or intimidating.

Joey couldn't help it; he smirked.

The bully straightened, eyes widening, hands making tearing motions in the air.

The rest doesn't really need a description, needless to say, for the third and final time than year, Joey Devlin, son of game-store chain magnate and famed gambler Duke Devlin, was suspended for fighting on school property (Ushio was fired and put even deeper into debt, but that's another story).

-LineBreak-

After the pre-screening (which Josh managed to somehow pass), the written exam began.

The first few questions were easy, multiple choice questions on card rulings, types of spell and traps, easy stuff.

Then there was word problems, the 'you have such and such in your hand, your opponent has such and such on the field, what do you do?' kind of stuff.

Then there were about a dozen very complicated queries on various card usages and what type of deck would be best used against other decks.

Lastly, there was the one page 'Personal' section. Three dreaded questions, rumored to have nullified any other scores on the test; 'what kind of deck do you use', 'what was your best moment in dueling' and 'where do you see yourself after graduation'?

The answer to those three questions, for Joey, were as followed;

1. A Fate Deck, full of cards like Time Wizard and Dicephoon, but with some added toughies like Mage Power, Vorse Raider, and useful cards like Hayabusa Knight and Mirage Dragon.

2. My best moment in dueling is when a rich kid running a run of the mill snobby Six Samurai Deck got all of his strongest on the field in on the first turn (which I find super-annoying), and I turned it around in the next one by playing Time Wizard, and then calling the right toss (he quit right then, but the thing was, my hand was really bad!)

3. I'm not sure, devoting five+ years to something like the academy will undoubtedly change my outlook, so making a promise I end up not keeping would be wishy-washy to say the least.

When it was done, he almost cried with relief, instead, he went outside and trashed one of the other applicants in a duel right there on the street.

-LineBreak-

Former-Chancellor Professor Sheppard sat on the bench overlooking the ocean, old eyes shining as the sun set.

It had been many a year since students of great destiny had walked the island, far too long. But something different was coming, he could feel it. Maybe, he hoped, just maybe, the likes of Jaden and his friends might one day appear.

It would be fun to watch Chancellor Crowler deal with that particular trauma once more.

He smiled. Yes indeed, a new story was coming.

He was glad he'd get to see it.

END OF CHAPTER WON!

I like Joey more than I like Josh…. '''(-_-)

He just seems more…me, I guess.

Too soon to tell, though, he could mellow out!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Practical Exam

Joey was more than a bit mad. He had gotten a letter, and not just any letter, oh boy no; it was an ACCEPTANCE LETTER!

It wasn't something to be mad about, exactly, but the letter spoke for itself.

_Greetings, Mr. Joey Devlin, the results of your Exam has been process, and you have made it to Practical Exam phase of the Entrance Exam, I, the head Proctor, am sending you this message personally in light of certain of events._

_Your test scores show that if you pass the exam, there's an almost 100% chance you would qualify for Obelisk Blue; to have that kind of score is unheard of, and I congratulate you. However, due to your previous record of offenses at Domino City School, your dorm will be the Slifer Red._

_-SIncerely,_

_Head Proctor, M_

For the second time since he had received the letter, he punched the Marshmallon dummy hanging from the ceiling of his room, this time so hard the string holding it up broke and it went flying out the open window.

Joey closed his eyes, taking five deep breaths before heading down the stairs after the unfortunate plushie turned punching bag.

Just as he got outside, he saw Atemu walking up the street, he lightness of his step and almost-not-quite smile indicating that he was in a god mood.

It was a safe bet that that meant he had passed, but with someone like Atemu, well, you just couldn't tell.

Joey stooped, grabbed up Marshamallon, and tossed it back through the window easily.

"Hey, bud, what's up?"

"Everything!" replied Atemu, who gave a rare grin, "I was accepted to the academy, I beat Dad, and then he gave me a bunch of primo cards for when we get there!"

"Sweet. I was accepted too; what dorm?"

"Ra Yellow."

"Ha! I got into Obelisk, but they knocked me down to Slifer because of my, you know, history."

Atemu's expression dimmed a bit. "That stinks, bro."

"Anyhow, the Practical is tomorrow, so, I'm gonna go take a nap, then work on my deck some more."

"Right, I'll see ya, then." Atemu continued down the street, no less happy then he had been before (which is to say there was the circle that crowd unconsciously formed around him would have been a millimeter smaller).

-LineBreak-

"So, excited about your big day?" Duke Devlin asked, between forking food into his mouth.

"Yeah, dad, I guess I am." Joey smiled.

"Well, that's funny, seen as your going to embarrass yourself today, n the first ever televised Duel Academy exam, ever!" his little sister, Irene, crowed, grinning vilely.

"Now, now." Duke said, before chugging his juice straight from the carton.

"Breakfast at mom's house is less messy!" Irene said, pouting.

"But boring as sh-" Joey began, before realizing who he was talking to.

"As what, Joey, as what?" Irene stared at him, eyes wide.

"Nothing. I should get going." He drank the last of his cereal down and turned to leave.

"Wait, come to my study, I have something I wanna give you." his father said, getting up and moving down the hall and into his messy home-work station, from which he managed the third largest game industry presence in Domino.

"I want you to have these, son, for your deck." his father handed him a small stack of cards.

"Wow." Joey drew out the syllables, "Pot of Greed, Dragonic Knight, Spirit Reaper, and a new Monster Reborn! Thanks, pops, these'll really boost my deck."

"Good." Duke patted his son on the shoulder. "Now get going!"

Joey left, grinning as he absentmindedly shuffled the new cards into his deck.

A short twenty minute walk later, and he was at the Exam Hall.

The lady at the sign-in desk was nice enough, commenting on how he was one of the first to arrive, but he noticed her frown when she read the notes under his name.

He smiled breezily and entered the facility.

There were about a dozen students so far. All new applicants, it seemed, as no one present was wearing dorm colors.

At the moment, four of them were dueling proctors. Atemu was one of the duelers. He was using his favorite card, Chaos Sorcerer, equipped with Mage Power, to total the proctors LP.

As Atemu made his way up the stairs, Joey made his way down, giving his friend a silent high-five before going all the way down to meet with his proctor.

-LineBreak-

"Holy crap."

It was bad, even for Joey.

Not cards in his hand, one weak-ass Spirit Reaper facedown on the field, which would be a time stall, except the proctor was using Red Dragon Archfiend, so it would be destroyed anyway; oh, and a united we stand, useless to use on reaper. This guy was good, possibly 'this dude should not be just a proctor' good.

It was his turn again; he drew a card. He smiled; it was another one of Dad's cards, Dragonic Knight.

The proctor summoned Alexandrite Dragon, in attack mode, and launched straight into the Battle Phase, attacking with his weaker dragon.

"Hey, hey, not an awful technique, but its still only a stall! I attack with my Red Dragon; go, destroy his Spirit Reaper with your effect!"

The archfiend dragon flew forward, claws extended, as fiery ash formed around its jaws, preparing to spew forth over Spirit Reaper.

When Reaper was destroyed, Josh laughed, and declared Dragonic's effect, bringing him to the field.

The proctor's laugh was uproarious; "Nice move, but your Dragonic is still weak compared to my archfiend! I end my turn, anyway, let's see if you can draw something to turn this around."

Joey smiled, and drew his next card with purpose. It was another equip spell, Twin Swords of Flashing Light, Tryce. He equipped both cards to his Dragonic, giving the monster 3100 attack, and the ability to attack twice.

The rest of the duel was a flawless victory.

Joey moved back to the seats, reclining on one of the semi-soft chairs and commencing a nap.

-LineBreak-

"Dude, what is wrong with you!?" Joey opened his eyes groggily.

"I come to see you duel, after all this time, and not only do you duel early but sleep through mine! Feckless punk!"

His eyes still hadn't uncured. He rubbed at them furiously, "Who in the hell?!"

"Me, you lily-livered, genetically guaranteed alcoholic, son of a godawful bitch!"

Suddenly, just as his vision returned, he recognized the voice.

"Oh damn, its you."

"Yes it's me, your favorite cousin! And you missed my practical exam!"

"Didja fail? Please tell me you failed."

"No way, bro, I, sir Clarence O'Connor the best duelist in domino, passed in two turns!"

"Good, very good, now can I go back to sleep?"

"NO! We have to leave, you slept through the exit ceremony, we only have an hour to get all our stuff and catch the damn helicopter!"

"Kaiba-Bastard was supposed to wake me up."

"If it was unspoken thing (I assume it was), he'd consider non-binding…and funny."

"I'm not talking to him anymore."

"Sure, okay. Let's go."

HAPPY FACE!

Done Chapter Two

Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi Guys, well, this is it, our boy is gonna reach the Island! (after an amusing Helicopter Ride)!

Chapter Three: Liftoff

Joey's muscles strained against the confining seatbelt.

"Screw flying!" he muttered, teeth bared in a feral snarl.

"Dude, calm down." a student, maybe third year, was sitting next to him, grinning like an idiot.

"'Dude calm down'!" he repeated back, voice mocking.

The kids across from him smirked, alerting Joey to just how large the student he was mocking was.

The other student's voice got very dangerous, "What?"

Joey closed his eyes, _Of course_, he thought to himself.

"Haha, I like you man, most people don't mess with my because of my rep, but you're awesome! The names is Derek, people call me skull, 'cause I'm the leader of the Skull Club, but then, you'll find out more about clubs when we get to the island!"

"Awesome, I'm Joey." Joey stifled a burp, "'Scuse me."

"I get it man, there's paper bags under the seat if ya need them."

"Thanks."

-LineBreak-

"Hey 'cuz, what's up?"

"Greetings, Claire." Joey replied, reeling a bit as he climbed out of the chopper.

His cousin growled, "Haha, my name can be abbreviated into a girl's name, that is so very clever and nostalgic for the third grade at the same time."

"Don't knock nostalgia, bro!" Joey replied, finally un-flipping his stomach and beginning the steady pace up the hill to the Main Building.

"Such a thing as too camp." Atemu cut in, walking between them.

"Is that the wind I hear, cousin of mine? The betraying, stupid-joke playing, last-minute packing-causing wind?" Joey said, rolling his eyes.

"Wow, the silent treatment, that is super-mature, for you, anyways!" Atemu smiled, tousling his friend's hair (despite being at least three inches shorter) much to Joey's outrage.

"You sir, are a _duine a dhéanann rudaí le caoirigh_, to the best of my understanding, and feel free to quote me later."

"Yes, Joey, you're the amazing whiz-genius who knows five languages, good for you, now lets hurry up or we wont get good seats during orientation!" Clarence called, bursting forth.

"Hey, his jacket; he's in Ra."

"Yep."

"That's one of us in each, isn't it?"

"You're getting smarter, Joey."

"Shut up."

-LineBreak-

"It's a New Year, Students!" the ridiculously dressed man-woman named Crowler orated, "And as your Chancellor, I am counting on you all to behave at your best, duel at your best, and learn at your best!"

"Also dress at our best? Because thats kind of hypocritical." a voice said, from next to Joey.

A short kid (even shorter than Atemu) with a ridiculously ripped-up Slifer jacket and headband that said "Death 'WITH* Metal' in dripping red letters, was there, slouching sulkily He hadn't been on the plane, so he must have been one of the Older Students not selected to come and watch the Practical Exams.

"Nice one," Joey whispered, holding out his fist, "I'm Joey, great to see a fellow bad seed."

The guy looked at him for a moment, eyes judging, then bumped.

"Name's Nico Greene, you're the kid who trashed my Older Brother, the Proctor."

"Is that good thing or a bad?"

"VERY good!"

Joey smiled crookedly; he was already making friends.

-LineBreak-

"So, I'm your Headmaster, Dr. Frederick. It is my first year at this school, and I what you to know, whatever you might expect from previous years, or Slifer's reputation, if you're new, you will NOT find this place a lenient dorm; and fully Expect each and every one of you to pass your tests, or suffer the 'Penalty'; which is to say your best cards are mine!"

Joey bared his teeth slightly, next to him, Nico snorted.

"I hear you're noises of consternation, but rest assured, I will follow through on this threat. I am not to be trifled with. Dismissed." with that he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

"Good day to you too, sir! Jackass." a voice shot from the back of the room.

There was a spread of laughter, but a few of the less confident duelists looked very worried.

"That is so completely messed up." Joey said to Nico, as some of the staff brought out trays.

"Agreed, but there's not much we can do, that freak is the other, even bigger, freak's nephew."

"Crowler?"

"Perceptive." Nico smiled wryly as he scooped a huge plate of Mashed Potatoes.

"Well, there can't be so very many freaks on an island this small."

"Bro…well, you'll see."

"Brilliant."

End Of Chapter Three; I'm enjoying this, actually, I can't wait to see what happens to him next, really.

-VictorDuelist97


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it took so long, kind of lost my computer for a while; ):x

Chapter Four: Groups

In the courtyard of the Main Building,

"This is war, Skulls!" a boy clad in an Obelisk Uniform, holding a broken arm and snarling evilly.

-Before this is continued, some back story has to be shed upon the Group's system. Six years ago, what seemed like an awesome idea to unify students in dueling teams, regardless of Dorm, backfired completely, turning into several (mostly Dorm-Based) gangs, which were only about 60% dueling related; there was contraband smuggling and outright violence as well. There were five groups, but the three Big Names were Slifer's Skull, Ra's Chaos Magicians, and Obelisk's Knights of Torment.

Ra was a sort of neutral party, no-one wanted to mess with them, because of their undeniable skill, but they were infamous for making alliances and reneging on them as the tide changed, while Slifer and Obelisk were enemies until such time as the school was torn down.

The fourth group was the Dandylions, not based with any particular dorm, and fully neutral, they ran the 'black market' and had incredibly scary enforcers, duelists and fighters of the highest caliber, their boss was actually unknown, and it was rumored he was also a key official in one of the three main Groups.

The last group was the Imperials, a relatively small group trying to unify all the others under one leader, they were, to say the least, mocked by the other groups, with almost no members worth mentioning. So ends the back-story-

A boy in red shot back, "Sure, bro, we've never heard you cowards say that before."

A kid in the Ra uniform called to both of them, "Save it, we're on school time now, and you know Crowler's only rule about all of us is keep it to free time, amateurs!"

The one in red yelled back, "Shut up!"

Four more guys in Ra uniforms came out of the building.

From their perch on the wall, Joey, Clarence, Atemu, and Nico watched the fray.

"How long 'til classes start?" Joey asked, not really bothered by the proceedings below.

"Um. Half an hour." his cousin replied, watching fascinated as campus security poured from the building in droves.

"You in a Group, Nico?" Atemu asked, watching a bird perched on the school roof.

"Was with the Dandylions…And nothing else about THAT will you be finding out from me." his voice was acid.

"Hm. Okay." was the only reply Joey could think of.

"We should get going." Atemu said.

"Agreed."

-LineBreak-

"First lesson of the day, you're all scum!" the PE teacher was a tall bald man, overly muscled with a name no one could pronounce.

(Why the hell do we get PE first thing)

"Either you're weak and scum, or your strong and misusing your strength scum!" he also seemed to be evil.

(I hear the first class is always the worst with this guy)

"First up, some of you new kids will be fighting me one-on-one in the ring, freestyle, with no face or groin shots, I will select…"

(I wonder how the girls' PE class is doing)

"YOU!" he pointed straight at Atemu, the only one not bothering to avert his eyes from the PE teacher, "Cocky punk needs ta learn a lesson!"

Atemu stood, his baggy gym clothes and unconcerned manner belying the mistake that the macho teacher had just made.

He moved to the center of the mat, and took an easy but clearly trained stance, fists out, facing his opponent.

"Ohoho! Cocky-boy has some training." unpronounceable name took a step forward before fluidly moving into a crouch.

"Yes." Atemu replied.

Joey, knowing the outcome by heart, drifted off, but awoke to the sound of cheering as the teacher was easily booted from the mats by the youngest son of the Kaiba Clan.

"Ouch." Clarence commented dryly, and there was a rousing cheer in response.

"I'm starting to enjoy it here."

-LineBreak-

Next period was a lecture on 'Dueling Theory', and after the period after that was Technique.

"Alright class," the Technique teacher, Mr. Omura, said, "I'm going to draw three cards off the top of this deck, you'll each notice a corresponding card set into your desks, if I draw your card, you and the other person who is selected will duel against me and one of your peers, a tag-team battle."

"First, I draw…Flame Champion!" a small kid with huge glasses got up and fidgeted his way to the front of the room.

"Next…Blackland Fire Dragon!" A boy directly to Joey's left got up and strutted to the front of the room.

"And, finally, Hayabusa Knight!" Joey looked at the desk. _Crap._

He got up and made his way to the front of the room.

"Okay," Mr. Omura shouted, "who wants to partner up with your teacher!?" the nervous glasses kid raised his hand.

"Okay then, Shen, that means Joey and Mark are partners." Joey nodded to the tall arrogant kid he had just been partnered with.

"What kind of deck do you use?" Joey asked, as the stood side by side and activated their disks.

"Six samurais, shit-head, and don't talk to me, don't get in my way, and ride my coattails to victory."

"Okay, Mark, let's you go first!" Mr. Omura said, waving his hand flamboyantly.

Joey spaced as his partner pulled a bunch of annoying BS combos to get several strong Six Samurai monsters whose names he didn't know onto the field (incidentally taking up their whole side of the field, so Joey could play nothing).

Joey's face twitched as he looked at his hand. It was turn two, so he could attack, but he just plain didn't want to use the Six Samurai monsters, which his partner clearly thought he would.

"I play Dark Hole!" there was a collective gasp in the room.

"I summon Sangan in attack mode, play double-summon, to tribute Sangan in order to summon Mr. Volcano in attack mode-I put a Kuriboh in my hand using Sangan's effect, then equip my Twin Swords of Flashing Light Tryce and two Axe of Despair cards so that my monster has 3600, and I attack you…um, Shen, twice." the unfortunate boy in the glasses was left with only 800 atk.

"I end my turn."

"In partner dueling you should take more care of your friend's monsters." Mr. Omura said, setting a face-down monster and two face-down cards.

Shen tributed the face-down monster, Kaibaman, to summon dark dust spirit, which Mark negated with Bottomless Trap Hole.

He set another card, then ended his turn.

The lights went out, and the disks deactivated.

"What the hell?" Joey heard Clarence say.

"Language!" Mr. OmuraOmura yelled, "Everyone be calm, this is probably just a temporary short."

Joey grabbed his PDA from his pocket, and tried to turn it on. It didn't work.

"It's not just the electricity; the whole Operating System for the School's Network is down. The emergency lights aren't even on!" someone said.

"That means…" Joey began.

"Sabotage." Mr. Omura finished.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi Guys, there wont be a new chapter after this for a while; school stuff, super annoying! x|

Chapter 5: Blackout

They hadn't left their dorms in three days.

The emergency power had been restored, but most systems, including the disk projectors, had been badly damaged by what most people seemed to think was an EMP.

A mandatory ban on inter-dorm travel had been placed, and the guards were everywhere; it was being called an act of edu-terrorism.

This was, above all things, a drag for Joey. He didn't much care what had happened, or even why, but if he couldn't learn, he should at least be able to duel new people, and he had managed to beat everyone in the dorm at least twice, usually more like four or five, each.

He was sitting on his bunk, cross-legged, shuffling his cards for the hundredth time, when there was a knock at the door. He was the only one there.

Briefly he considered ignoring it, but then the knock came again, "Campus Police, open up!"

He did, of course.

"Mr. Devlin, you are hereby accused of committing an act of sabotage via-EMP directly to the school's AI Mainframe, you have to come with us!"

End of that chapter.

I bet your gonna wonder what happens next! I promise, after the 29th, for better or for worse, I'll be done with school, and at least have a week before they dump me in summer school

-VD out! (u wish ;])


	6. Chapter 6

Just like Monster Reborn: I wrote quite a bit, then lost it due to satanic influences of a younger cousin; BEST thing that happened this summer. I might do 'lost chapter', in the meantime, just…keep up, I guess. Sorry for shortness, but I have been having the worst few months EVER.

Chapter 18:

"So, Boss Joey, what are your orders?" Nico, said, no small amount of sarcasm in his voice.

Joey smiled, flipping Time Wizard around in his hands.

"Don't call me that, I did not intend to take over the Dandylions when I started those fights, ok?"

Nice grinned, holding his deck up.

"Well, now that we control trade: our decks have boosted quite a bit, huh?"

"Not mine. It's pretty much same-old same-old."

"Well, I'm looking forward to what adventures will befall us, now that we've become CARD-BLADE."

"I bet, Nico."


End file.
